


Boisterous Sea

by Flakeblood



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: DMC 4 Nero & Dante, Family Bonding, Gen, MerMay 2020, Nero is the Mer, One Shot, a lot of this was written for the aesthetic, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flakeblood/pseuds/Flakeblood
Summary: Written for MerMay. Prompt: "The tide is high, the wind is low, the birds have all fallen silent, but there is a noise, a huge swell of sound that echoes across the land."Dante finds someone he wasn't expecting after his latest job.
Relationships: Dante & Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	Boisterous Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from [A Productive Manor](https://a-productive-manor.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.

Wind blowing off the sides of the cliffs gave a distance echo, one Dante turned his head towards. The seaside town felt eerie all on it’s own, thanks to the sounds bounced around the natural rock formations, and the demon which had been inhabiting the town had only made the inhabitants more uneasy. A sort of instinct drove them into their homes at night, a safer place than out in the open.

Even though it was gone, courtesy of Dante, he could see why they might still be hiding.

Clouds rolled across the navy blue sky, drifting across and around the bright, full moon overhead. Everything around him was washed out in the pale light, and even the sea looked cloaked over in shimmering grey.

It was odd.

Dante’s instincts were still on high alert, just having come off the fight less than an hour ago. He had planned to pick up his motorcycle and leave, but another echoing of something in the wind gave him the chills.

Like a fool, Dante followed his ears to the beach.

The waves were pulled up high on the shore, nearly the peak of high tide, the silver-black water lapping at the lower rocks of the cliffs and curling into worn tide pools. He stepped careful around the waves, eyeing his footing, but surreptitiously kept his senses on the spaces around him as well. Even though he was normally _paid_ to investigate, something intrigued him, pulled him in, which could only mean something supernatural.

Dante told himself he was just continuing the previous job. It was probably something left by the demon--a little fun for after it died. Dante cracked his neck and smiled to himself.

“Well, it’d be rude to just ignore a gift, now wouldn’t it?”

Then the wind died down. Just for a moment, but it was long enough. In place of the whistling spinning through the crags, a howl rose up, both too human and not human enough, crying and reflecting from the jagged rocks to carry all across the shore and through the town.

Breathless, Dante took note of the sound and the direction it came from. Several moments later, the wind returned, and Dante breathed again.

With light and hurried steps, he made his way to the edges of a tidal pool, right at the end of the rocks where a steep drop had the waves splashing more foam. Dante grumbled internally at his feet getting wet, but that’s how it was sometimes. He leaned forward as best he could to check where he’d heard the sound coming from without getting his coat wet, too.

He got a good enough look around the nearest cliff to see a… Dante blinked. A mermaid?

They were on a rock jutting out of the water, probably the last remains of the cliff from decades ago. A scaled tail trailed from the water, deep jewel blues and reds, sleek and incredibly muscled. The top half was a person, human-looking, with skin a paler khaki than the sparse sands of the shore, and hair so bright under the moonlight, it gathered and reflected the same white-silver.

They were facing away, so Dante didn’t get a good look at the rest of them, but he definitely noticed their back and shoulders were as muscled as the tail, like he would expect of a constant swimmer: strong but lithe enough to cut through the water.

The mermaid--demon--was looking up at the cliffs, howling in a way which imitated human pain. A way to lure those unexpected to their doom; And definitely a good reason for the townspeople to still be cowering in their homes.

Alright then, time to work. Dante whistled loud enough to be heard over the wind.

The mermaid stopped crying out, muscles tensed.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out here?” Dante called out. He placed a hand on his hip, just within reach of one of his guns. “Looking for a partner maybe? Sorry to tell you, but I think the rest of the town is busy sleeping. Me though? I’ve got plenty of energy to indulge you.”

An irritated tail flick told Dante everything he needed to know even before the mermaid turned around. Or, merman?

Dante absently noted that he was just as muscled in front before the frostiest of glares was turned on him. It probably would have been intimidating to anyone else, but Dante couldn’t help smirking at the frown aimed at him; The demon looked like a pouting kid.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy to see such a handsome mug?”

When the demon pulled his lips back to scowl, Dante caught sharp, almost shark-like teeth. “Get lost old man,” the demon spat.

One of his hands gripped at the rock, bringing Dante’s attention to that next, and he saw the same colored scales around the lower arm and hand, ending in five sharp claws. Interesting.

“Aw, c’mon, I can be fun, kid.” Dante whipped out a gun, leveling it at the demon. “So let’s dance.”

With one loud cry, the kid brought out his clawed hand in front of himself and swiped. Dante, not expecting it to send out a shining blue projection of an even bigger hand, was abruptly pushed back and stumbled into the nearby pool of water. Shit, there went his coat. Might as well go all in then.

He heard a conspicuous splash, and sure enough, when Dante stood up and looked for the rock, the demon was gone.

Quickly stripping off his coat, Dante tossed it at a higher rock to wait for his return, then jumped out into the tides. Despite the full moon, the waters under the waves were dark, gradating from the dark blue of the sky to an encompassing, inky black. Dante swam a bit further, using some of his own demonic power to enhance his eyesight, brightening the water just a bit more.

It quickly turned out he hadn’t needed to, since the demon came swimming towards his side at the speed too quick for Dante to properly block. Claws skimmed his arm, tearing up his shirt sleeve and the skin under it before he moved his gun up.

As his wound healed over, releasing only a small spurt of blood, the demon’s eyes widened, staring at the closed skin. Dante aimed square between those bright eyes and pulled the trigger.

The demon had reflexes on par with Dante’s though, and twitched away, spinning around behind Dante before digging in with his claws again.

Fuck. Dante deliberately kept his mouth shut to keep his air supply steady, though the wound stung something fierce in the salty ocean water. Especially since the demon kept digging into the wound to keep it from closing. Dante shoved an elbow back to get the demon off him and turned around, but by then the demon was already swimming off to try for another angle.

Dante cursed himself. Even though the wound was already closing, he knew when he was in a poor situation. He was at a disadvantage in the water, and the demon wasn’t one of the stupid kinds which stuck around long enough to be shot with a demonic-infused bullet or cut in two.

Dante would need another plan. Or to taunt him in closer.

Since it worked well enough last time, he waited until the demon was looking right at him, obviously searching for another chance to dive back in for a strike. Then Dante grinned.

Big, taunting, and smug, Dante accentuated the expression by whipping his sword off his back with his free hand, pointing it at the demon. He still moved, but his tail gave an erratic twitch as he swam and his hands both clenched. Sure enough, he moved to swim at Dante again, apparently headless of the weapon pointed at him.

Dante waited until the demon was just out of range before swinging as quickly as he could. He was certain he would at least clip the demon, even if he tried to dodge and swim off. Yet, it appeared the demon was more than ready, as he held up his clawed arm and another dazzling blue projection appeared, the hand of demonic power catching the sword and wrenching it to the side. With Dante open, the demon took the chance to swim in close and bite the base between his neck and shoulder.

An involuntary breath was released as the teeth pierced Dante’s skin, bubbles rising swiftly to the surface. Still, Dante wasn’t going to let the demon get the best of him, and moved to headbutt him.

Though it lacked some power underwater, it was enough to both get the demon off him and make Dante see stars.

He needed to get out of the water. Since the demon was smarter and stronger than he’d first thought, he’d need that advantage of dry land. And maybe a better plan than “fight.” As Dante looked around though, he didn’t see any land, and he finally noticed the current tugging on his body, bringing him further out to sea. Dammit.

Even strong strokes using his demonic strength did little. Putting his sword and gun away also didn’t help, given their weight still tugged at him. He wasn’t going to be able to best nature, it seemed, and not while low on breath. He barely kept an eye out for the demon as he tried to move towards the scant light from the surface.

He was so preoccupied with those two thoughts, he never saw the rock.

0-o-0

Dante came to sputtering and with a pain in his gut. It quickly disappeared, especially as Dante managed to get his breathing to even out, but it told Dante he was laying stomach down on rock. He peeked his eyes open to confirm it. There was the rock he laid on, miles of sea, and… the demon. Looking at him from just above water level. Dante wondered if he ever smiled.

“No.”

Whoops. Better roll with it. Dante cocked his head and pulled on his own grin in example. “Nice of you to keep me around for later. I wasn’t ready to stop playing yet.”

“Shut up old man,” the demon said, “And don’t pull that shit again.”

Dante rolled onto his side, pointing at his face while pulling a “who me?” look. “Just how old do you think I am kid?”

“Enough to be senile, apparently. I’m not a child.”

“Whatever you say kid.”

The demon pulled his lips back, gnashing his teeth in warning--or maybe just his own frustration. “I’m not pulling you out of the water again, so don’t be an idiot.”

Dante raised a brow, but when he opened his mouth, the demon steamrolled right over what he wanted to say.

“You’re the one who jumped in with everything but your coat--your boots even! And your stupidly heavy sword. Which is not a great choice for underwater anyway. I can breath fucking water genius. So don’t think you can jump back in and outlast me. Or move faster than me.” He pointedly flicked part of his tail above the water.

Almost none of that would stop Dante if he fought in his own demon form. He could hold it for a reasonable time after years of fighting, and it would probably be enough to finish this demon off in just one more battle, given Dante had a better idea of how he fought now.

Even so, considering the kid was not attacking him, and talking to him, and trying his best to be intimidating--though it was more cute than anything--Dante wanted to try another way.

“Ya got me kid,” he agreed.

The demon made a _tsk_ sound, teeth still visible.

“So what were you doing out here? Who were you crying for?”

The kid froze. His expression was tensed, but his eyes had widened in something like shock. It didn’t last long as the kid’s temper came flaring back. “I wasn- No one- Shut up! That’s none of your damn business.”

“It might be, kid.” Dante felt his playful smile drop a bit as he narrowed his eyes. “You ever call someone to you.”

Dante watched closely as the kid thought, and closer as he answered.

“No.” The kid was looking away, and his shoulders drooped into the water. A few moments of silence passed, just the ocean drifting back and forth before he said, “There’s no one to call anyway.”

Which technically wasn’t true, with the nearby town, but Dante felt something in those words, in the defeated tone and downcast eyes which screamed loneliness. And he couldn’t bring himself to fight someone like that. The kid was far too open with his emotions and clearly hurting.

“Guess I’ll have to visit then.” Dante ignored the splashing and sputtering beside him as he stood up on his little rock and stretched. “See how you are, y’know, since you seem to enjoy my presence so much.”

“Fuck off,” the kid finally spit out. “Once you’re back on shore, don’t ever come back here.”

“And disappoint my favorite kid?” Dante said in mock dismay.

“It’s Nero, old man.” The kid--Nero--had finally put both hands on the rock, and began pushing himself up, revealing some of his tail. Dante wasn’t sure if Nero wanted to take a swipe at him or just close some of the height difference Dante had while standing.

The slump to his shoulders was gone though, and the fire was back in his eyes, so Dante gave himself a mental pat on the back.

“Besides, I won’t be getting back to shore for a while like this.” Dante shook some of the water from his arms. He wasn’t about to let on he could fly. Not yet anyway; Maybe in the future.

“I will drag you back there,” Nero growled.

“Ah kid-” Dante flopped down, bringing them to eye level, and smacked his hand on Nero’s shoulder, getting a surprised jump, “-that’s real nice of you.”

A surprising blush stole over his face, nearly as red as some of his scales. “S-shut up. Let’s just go.”

The arm which grabbed Dante around the chest was a surprise, as was plunging into the water, but he was quickly brought up to the surface again. He realized the kid was swimming underneath him, using his own body to keep Dante’s chest and head above water the way a lifeguard would. Dante laughed.

He really would have to visit the kid then; Nero was just too much fun.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like this started more serious than it ended up, but it's Dante. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Also, I love Nero's demon arm, so of course it's here, haha. Why would I give him scales without including his power arm?
> 
> So I hope you enjoyed this little fic! And given the ocean feel, feel free to just drop little squids in the comments, hehe. They make me very happy.
> 
> くコ:彡 ♡ ♡
> 
> Btw, I also have places where I post updates on what I'm doing and take one-shot commissions. You can find more details on my [tumblr (Flakeblood)](https://flakeblood.tumblr.com/) or [twitter (@Flakeblood)](https://twitter.com/Flakeblood). (人´ω｀*)♡ Messages are open at either one!


End file.
